


A New Light

by ThatabitCryptic



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Amnesiac Stan Pines, Gen, Guilty Ford Pines, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Weirdmageddon, Roof time roof time roof time, ford is sad, mabel is a good great niece :)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:08:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26950411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatabitCryptic/pseuds/ThatabitCryptic
Summary: This made me sad so now you get the choice of reading it!!Ford is sad and Mabel comforts him :)
Relationships: Ford Pines & Mabel Pines
Comments: 4
Kudos: 50





	A New Light

**Author's Note:**

> So this one shot is part of an au now dubbed Stanley erased
> 
> To summarise..
> 
> Stan doesn’t remember anything from when he went by the name of Stanley Pines.  
> No glass shard beach, no shanklin (I know the real tragedy huh?) and definitely no Ford :((
> 
> He basically remembers everything from the past 30 years since he took Ford’s name up until Ford came back and he started to use his real name again. (Yeah I’m still figuring it out)
> 
> So he knows the twins, Soos, Wendy etc. but just not his bro bro :/
> 
> This one shot is based of a scene from the Steven Universe episode ‘Roses Scabbard’ so um watch out :’)

Stanford’s goosebumps rose as a soft breeze brushed over his dampened features. From his position on the roof of the mystery shack the moon watched as he cowered in one of the only places he knew the stranger in his former house was unaware of. The only place he didn’t have to worry about fleeing from if the man who wore his twin’s face approached. 

He was so familiar and yet simultaneously so alien.

He shared the same mannerisms, pronunciations, sense of humour, interests and even love of his family. His family. His real family.

To Ford it seemed that after spending his whole life researching abnormalities around him he had become the most anomalous specimen in the vicinity of his brother’s companions. 

He thought he knew what to expect when he dialled is the name ‘Stanley Pines’ into the memory gun. He knew his twin would only look at him blankly once the trigger had been pulled. What he didn’t anticipate was what would remain. What would be left behind in accordance with Ford’s own wording on the machine. 

At first Stan held that vacant expression indifferent to which person of his past stood in front of him but as things moved forward, as scrap book pages had been turned, that number dwindled down to one. 

One. A number that had plagued his life. 

One too many. One eye. One option left to defeat Bill...

His grip on the broken wood below him tightened until a sharp pain hit his finger. A splinter. He’s dealt with worse. He picked it out and gazed back up at the stars. Wisps of opaque clouds painted the black canvas just enough to still show the glint of the distant flickering lights.

They may be nothing compared to the astronomical marvels he witnessed during his time in the multiverse but mixed with the ghost pain of his finger they held nostalgia that he hadn’t felt in a long time.

Memories of nights spent under the same quaint painting of distant galaxies refining the Stan ‘o War with Stanley. Crashing waves and the rhythmic shuffle of sand paper. Looking over his shoulder to see his brother showing of a hand full of wooden barbs; a smile on his face that was almost as expansive as the sky above.

Then a wave of thoughts surged into him, flipping the calm boat that sailed in his minds eye.

Stanley didn’t remember any of it. Stanley couldn’t remember it, all because of him. 

How was that fair? If there was anyone more deserving of those memories it was Stan. Ford spent 40 years of his life despising them why should he be the one to keep them? He wasn’t justified in being the holder of something so significant between him and his twin.

Ford placed his head in his hands and took a shuddering breath. 

And now Stanley Pines was gone. The memories that came back and rebuilt the man inside the shack wasn’t his brother. Only a husk of the last thirty years under Ford’s own name. A man void of anything that had made Stan his twin. A childhood gone.

When Stanley (or as he called himself ‘Stanford’ despite everyone’s constant correcting) would greet him Ford couldn’t help but avert his eyes. He didn’t- he couldn’t look at him. He couldn’t bare to see the lack of recognition that cornered him alone. Watching his brother talk to the younger twins or his employees without an indication of confusion just added to his need to avoid him. 

He was wrenched out his thoughts when he heard the ladder behind him creak. It was too late for it to be one of the children, Soos and Wendy would be at there own homes which left one person it could be. 

“Grunkle Ford?” The gentle voice of his great niece sent relief through him causing his body to relax slightly. 

“Mabel my dear what are you doing awake at this time of night?” Pulling his trench coat sleeve over his hand he quickly wiped at his face before he glanced backwards however he was still angled away. Mabel didn’t need to see him like this.

“It’s morning Grunkle Ford, I came to watch the sunrise...” She paused briefly before continuing, her voice even softer than before. “...are you- are you okay?” She moved closer but hesitantly kept her distance as though she were trying not to spook a wild animal.

“Y-yes I’m fine thank you Mabel.” His voice was thick and betrayed the sentiment of his statement.

“Okay...” he could feel her eyes on him as silence draped over them. “Do you mind if I sit with you?”

Ford wasn’t sure why the question shocked him so much; it was the next most logical direction their conversation could have taken. 

Despite this he shot to his feet, or rather attempted to. His legs were trembling too violently to stay upright and they crumbled causing him to fall to his hands and knees.

“Grunkle Ford!” She dash forwards and tried to steady him, they were on a roof after all.

“Grunkle Ford you have to tell me what’s wrong! You-you can’t even stand properly! Did you want me to get Grunkle Stan-”

“No!” Noting his out burst he cleared his throat, “No thank you Mabel I’m fine, I’ve um- just had too much coffee and it’s giving me the shakes.” 

He smiled at her weakly but when he saw the worried expression on her face it faltered. 

His How pathetic was that? He couldn’t face his twin, he couldn’t face his great niece and even his efforts to elude them had back fired tremendously.

Ford brought himself back up into a sitting position. He shuffled away from Mabel’s hold on his shoulder, facing away and out onto the canvas that was about to be bathed in light.

He sighed lethargically when he could once again feel her eyes boring holes into the back of his head. He couldn’t hold it back anymore, he had been alone for so long.

“A-after all I put you and Dipper through, after all the hurt and arguments I caused I don’t understand how you can bare to be around me.”

Stanford’s words were hushed and if the atmosphere wasn’t so stiff he wasn’t sure Mabel would have been able to here him. 

“Fiddleford,” a breath hitched in his throat, “Fiddleford spent thirty years in the dump because of me. He lost his mind because I refused to heed his warnings.”

Mabel didn’t say a word and just continued to listen.

“I summoned Bill, potentially causing mental damage to the better part of the townsfolk...”

Ford’s next words pressed down on his chest before they even left his mouth.

“I-I hurt Stanley. I let him get thrown to the streets all because of an accident. I ignored him for ten years not reaching out to even see if he was still... alive. He saves me from the multiverse and the first thing I do is punch him. I jeopardised our chance to defeat Bill all because I couldn’t give him the thanks he right fully deserved. I erased his mind. I killed him.”

Each confession saw him physically retract deeper and deeper into himself.

“And now look at me. I’m exposing you to all of this. A child.” By his side he clenched his six fingered hands into fists. “I- just because I can’t resolve this with him.”

The tension left his body as the final star of the night flicked out.

“Now he’s gone, but I’m still here. Sometimes I wonder if the parts of him that remember me are still there... what would he think of me now?”

There was yet to be any auditory response from Mabel. Maybe she had left? Had his statements finally convinced her how poorly he had treated everyone she cared about?

The second the though enters his mind Mabel threw herself into his back knocking it away.

“Well I think your pretty great.”

Ford didn’t notice the tears rolling down his face until Mabel moved in front of him and wiped them away with the sleeve of her sweater before hugging tight to his chest.

“Grunkle Stan might not remember you but... he’s still Grunkle Stan and he won’t hate you. But you won’t know unless you try.”

Ford looked down at Mabel. His vision became clearer as more unnoticed tears rolled down his face.

“If Dipper didn’t remember me... I-I think the best thing would be to try to remind him of what we had and how much he means to me. I-I know you guys were fighting before and hadn’t seen each other for like a billion years but if Grunkle Stan spent that time trying to bring you back do you think he would hate you?”

He sniffed and moved a quivering hand to cover his face. Sobs wracked his body as he folded into himself and Mabel clung tighter to his free arm.

“I don’t think he even would Grunkle Ford.”

Through his tears Ford could finally see a new light break over the horizon.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed :DD
> 
> Big ol’ thanks to [DarylStorey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarylStorey/pseuds/DarylStorey) for helping me out :)
> 
> As always stay safe and please don’t die :))


End file.
